First Look - Maria Holic

Allright, midterms are over. I'll finally be able to write some reviews.

Ok, so the new anime season started, and i've picked up some new animes. One of these is Maria Holic, which i was interested in seeing because i read the first chapter a whiles back. So, onwards, to

Maria Holic
Episodes:12

Summary: Kanako Miyamase is a rather tall girl. She transfers into Ame no Kisaki [Miracle of Rain] Missionary School, in her second year. In her first day there, several secrets come out. One: she is a lesbien. Two: If a boy touches her, she breaks out in hives. Three: there is a boy on campus, masquerading as a girl, named Mariya Shido. Mariya cannot, for whatever reason, reveal that he is really a he, and not a she, so to prevent Kanako from saying anything, she blackmails her, stating that if he will reveal that she is a lesbien [I think i just confused myself there]. Halarity ensues as she explores the all-girls school with this boy on her back.

Analysis: Or not. This anime SUCKS. Usually I do 'first looks' after the 3rd episode, but I can't in this case. I stopped watching halfway through the second episode. Its crap. Really bad. Don't bother watching it.

Why, do you ask? Many reasons.

The animation in the show is really bad. Alot of times they'll put in a random stylized backdrop for no reason at all, instead of just doing a normal background. The normal backgrounds aren't even normal backgrounds, they're more like bad watercolors. If a person isn't an actual character, they look also like they're a bad watercolor. The actual characters ... don't have noses. Its like a failed attempt to draw one. There are also alot of sfx, where they really aren't needed.

About half of each episode is spent in Kanako's mind, with a little chibi character who can fly around, faint, etc etc, whatever. This character speaks very quickly, and oversays everything. She'll bugger out for no reason, and does self monologues whining over whats going on, or talking about the 'ultra cuteness' of this one girl that she just met, repeating herself, over and over and over and over and I think you get the idea. Quite frankly, it is very annoying.

For another thing, I don't care if she is lesbien and there are tons of super cute girls at the school, noone, and I mean noone, even in the biggest harem anime you can find, gets nosebleeds at the drop of a pin like this girl. Like ... seriously ... she must get a blood transfusion 10 times a day.

The music isn't that good either. Its overdone, in a bad attempt to be good. There is probably alot more that I can say about this anime, but I'm trying to scrub it from my mind.

The only good part about this anime is the opening theme, I like it. The ending one is crap, however.

I'm disappointed. Alot more could have been done with this anime, but it was ruined. Its an attempt at a comedy harem ish thing that failed miserably.

Anyways, I'll be able to write another review soon. I'm not putting any screenshots up, because this does NOT deserve one.

Sorry about the lack of updates

Hi again, its been what, 2 months?

First off, Happy Holidays and New Year.

Second off, I'm sorry I havn't been writing any reviews. I've read/watched alot of anime/manga that I could have written up, but I can't. I've been bogged down with schoolwork, and I joined 2 fansubbing teams and 2 scanlation teams. Yeah ... busy ...

So anyways, I have winter break in a couple of weeks, I'll try and pump out one review a day.

/Vavoysh

CHAOS;Head - First Look

CHAOS;Head

Summary: Taku is you're ordinary, run of the mill otaku, who rarely goes to school, and loves playing video games. However, through one of his online chats, he learns about the mysterious New Gen incidents – a horrifying series of murders, done in very strange ways. After clicking an image of a New Gen murder, he is very surprised to, the next day, stumble across that murder as it is being commited. Somehow, Taku is related to all of the New Gen murders – but how? [In all honesty, I still don't know]

Analysis: ... This anime is second to Casshern SINS. Its very unique in several ways, and is very interesting in and of itself. Its based off of a light novel, and is told in much the same way. We see everything, know everything, hear everything, think everything, that the main character does. Its done basically in book form, and really sucks you in. There is maybe 15 seconds of non-takuness in the first three episodes. Because we only know what the main character does, its great for suspense. We're figuring out whats going on as the main character does, and not in a sudden revelation provided by the enemy or by a friend. We're with him as he slowly figures it out, being shocked the entire way, not really knowing what he's getting into. Its done very brilliantly.

Now, the minuses. A problem that I had when first watching it is that you don't realize that its being told from only the perspective of the main character. There were some things that happened that didn't make sense, such as the appearance of Seira-Tan, a character from a TV show that he constantly imagines holding conversations with him.

Other than that, the only minus is that there are only going to be 12 episodes. At the pace its going at, I don't know how much plot is going ot happen after he finds out whats going on, unless there is going to be a second season, which I honestly hope there will be.

Sono me, Dare no me?

Taku and Seira - Sorry, its a bad pic, but something went wrong with the screenshot thing.

The chat window of one of his games. He gets alot of information through these, and it is how he is sucked into the mystery.

The blessed crucifixion, one of the New Gen Events

Sorry that I havn't updated, but its been a long week. Very long. I havn't had much time for anything. I also have alot of tests coming up, so that will be annoying.

/Vavoysh

Parasyte

Title: Parasyte

Alternate Title: Kiseiju

Mangaka: Hitoshi Iwaaki

Rating: 5.5/10

Genre: Not really sure how to put this

Length: 64 chapters compiled in 10 volumes

Summary: The world has been infested by Parasytes, who can take control of human bodies. They don't know why they were sent here, they don't know how they were created. What they do know is that they must kill, and feed off of the human remains. They have the ability to shape the bodies of their hosts in any way that they desire, whether to alter the body to jump 50 feet in the air, or make blades out of arms. The worst part is that noone knows of their existence, as they blend in seamlessly with society.

One of the parasytes, however, messes up. Instead of taking control of his host's brain, he gets forced into the host's right hand instead. The name of this host is Izumi, and after waking up to this horror, he and the Parasytes, called Migi [which means right in Japanese, not a very creative name] form a symbiotic relationship, in order to fight the other parasytes.

Analysis: This entire manga is a coming-of-age story, focusing on Izumi. Because he and Migi each are two people in one body, they each retain their own minds. However, Izumi is influenced by Migi's cold, harsh, logical mind. The story tracks him and those surrounding him, as he changes and he deals with the changes. That part is pretty interesting. Additionally, some of the Parasytes [such as Migi, but there are others] see the human race as an interesting experiment, and its interesting watching them interact and learn about humans.

Whats also good about it is that its hinted, both at the beginning and the end, that the Parasytes were sent to the earth in order to cleanse it of a plague, that plague being the human race, for all of the evildoings that we have been inflicting on the earth. Its a very eco-friendly manga.

However, my problem with it are the fights. The manga, even though it is set up as such [what with the body changing], cannot do fights scenes. When they're done, they're done ok-ish, however they have no read purpose in the plot. Its almost as if the mangaka said 'Allright, I think I'm going to put a fight in here for no reason at all'. I can only think of 2, maybe 2.5 fights in the series that were actually important and helped the plot and the characters along. The rest of them, I feel like the manga could have done without. [Its because of that that I gave it a low score]

The main reason that you would want to read this manga is because of the characters, and how they develop. Thats the best part of it, and probably the only part worth reading [except for the 2.5 fights that actually matter]. Asides from that, you'd read it to read the insights on humankind, the world, and society as we know it.

Characters:

Because this entire manga is basically character devlopment, I'm going to be very brief with the characters, and I'm only going to mention four of them. There are more, and they do play important parts, but I feel like if I say anything about them, it will ruin it.

Izumi Shinichi: The protagonist of the series, he starts off as an uncaring boy, with a dim view of the world. After his right hand is inhabited by Migi, he changers, becoming more and more parasyte than human.

Migi: The other protagonist of the series, he inhabits Izumi's right hand. He is very interested in human society as a whole, but only sticks his neck out for himself and Izumi. He has a very narrow view of the world, and is very smart.

Murano Satomi: She is the childhood friend of Izumi, and spends some of her time in a romantic pursuit of the titular character. However, for the most part, in the series she serves as a sort of barometer to Izumi's humanity.

Tamura Reiko: She is a full bodied Parasyte, however she is not as mindless as the rest. Maybe its the fact that she possessed a teacher, but she sees the entire world as an experiment. She looks at the world through an outside observer's eyes and shares that perspective with us. Throughout the series, we see how the views of humanity changes. She is not as violent as the rest of the Parasytes, and is more logical and contains more reason than them too.

Anyways, I wrote the last part of this semi-rushed because its almost time for holidays. I might rewrite this later. I'll put pictures up after holidays. Expect a VERY long review about Kiba in the next couple of weeks, because I'm finishing with the series in the next couple of days and I feel like I'm going to write ALOT about it [it is a very awesome series]. I'll see you all soon

First Look - Casshern SINS

Hi again.

Sorry for not posting, but the weeks been very busy. I'll write my actual review either tonight/tomorrow. But, in the mean time, I thought I'd try something new.

The 2008 Fall Anime Season just started and I'm watching 3 or so new shows. So, I figured to get out what I'm watching, and to get more people interested, I'd do a first-look thing. After watching 3 episodes, I'll say what its about, and my views on it. When it finishes, I'll do a complete review.

Casshern SINS

Genre: Action, Drama, Post-Apocalyptic

Summary: Its a post-apocalyptic world, where a now extinct human race has been taken over by robotkind. However, the robots themselves are falling to the ruin, a rust that decimates their bodies, killing them with no cure.

Its all due to Casshern, but as to what he did neither we nor he know - he has a robot amnesia. All that he knows is how to fight. His prey comes from robots who approach with intent to kill, thinking that the ruin will stop and they will gain eternal life by eating him.

Analysis: This will easily become one of my favorite anime. I know that saying this is unprofessional, but this anime ... is FREAKING AWESOME. Let me go over why this is.

For one thing, the drawing style. Its not the style thats used now - its a more classic style, mixed in with some elements. It fits very well with an apocalyptic world setting, and its great for dramatic effects.

The music is blended in so well to the anime that you don't even notice it, yet it still affects your mood. Exactly how BGM [background music] should be.

The writers have made it so that we don't know exactly whats going on, yet we know enough to make it interesting. Its contrary to most other anime, where the hero is introduced to everything in the first episode. In this one, he's just wandering around, trying to make sense of what happened, and figure out what happened to his amnesia. Also, the first scene in each episode, before the opening credits, slowly show what did happen - 5 second blurbs, that we are supposed to be piecing together, backwards, as it is. Its a great way of showing what happened without actually showing it.

Because its a post-apocalyptic world, its filled with people who are on the verge of death. Here's the catch - none of them want to die [big shocker there]. Its very intense, watching their interactions, and what happens. I, for one, was crying at the end of the second episode [watch it, and see why I was doing so. You'll be crying too].

Casshern, without his helmet on.

Casshern, in Battle mode, Part 1

A more full body glimps of casshern. Those two things on his hips have another part to them, but we don't know what they do yet.

Casshern, in Battle Mode, part 2. When he is in this state, he exists only to destroy. Its rather scary.

A landscape shot of the earth. There are quite alot of these as he travels.

A full on view of the ruin.

Most of the ruined robots that try to attack Casshern look something like this.

All in All, this is a great show so far, and I can only think that its going to get better. I suggest that you all go and watch it. Right now. Why are you still reading? Go and watch it!!!

/Vavoysh

Virus Eliminated

The virus has kicked the bucket, I am happy to say.
However, after the virus was eliminated, my computer started crashing on startup. I had no idea why, and was getting pretty pissed. So I booted my comp in safe mode and realized that I had two anti-viruses installed. They were conflicting and ruining everything. So I uninstalled one and now my computer works. Happy days are here again!

I'll have a review up within the next week - I'm going to a go tournament over the weekend.

/Vavoysh

Virus

I'm probably not going to be on for the next week or so - my computer has a virus. I don't know how it got on, but I'm working to get it off. Considering how just about all my anime/manga is on that computer, I can't finish some of the series I was watching/reading. I do have some things that are on an external hard drive, but i don't know if i'll be able to access them.

Cya when my comp gets better

/Vavoysh

Aria the Animation

Aria the Animation

Length: 13 Episodes

Rating: 7.5/10

Genre: Slice of Life, Comedy

Plot: come and observe the life of Akari, an undine working for the Aria Company in Neo Venezia, on the planet aqua. Aqua is what’s formerly known as Mars, after humans managed to pull up water from the surface and make the planet one that of water. Earth, known as Man-Home, has become an almost impossible place to live.

Akari came to Aqua a year and a half ago and started working as an undine, or someone who steers gondolas. Join her as the makes new friends and learns more about Aqua. That’s really it. It’s the ultimate slice of life anime. There’s no suspenseful plot, you watch it to observe the lives of those in it.

So that you don’t get confused by what’s going on sometimes, I’ll explain a bit about Aqua.

There are four key jobs that are essential to Aqua. They are the Undines, Sylphs, Moles, and Salamanders. Undines are responsible for piloting gondolas, and there are three main companies – Aria Company, Himeya, and Orange Planet. They transport many people from place to place, and also serve a s a major source of tourist income. There are three levels to being an undine – the two apprentice levels, which are Pair and Single, and Primas, who are the professionals. You can differentiate between the ranks by the gloves on their hands – a pair has two gloves, a single one, and a prima none. It is the want of all Pairs and Singles to become a Prima, because they can then take around customers on their own and mentor other pairs and singles.

Sylphs are the package deliverers. While there still is a ‘traditional’ mail system, most of the mail is done through the sylphs, who ride around on hover-bikes transporting the goods.

Moles and Salamanders make Aqua inhabitable however. Moles live underground, and they control the planet’s gravity. Its very important to do so, because the strength of gravity is about 1/3 that of earth, which would make things very uncomfortable for humans to live on. Salamanders all live in the sky, in a hovering system known as Wikijima. They are responsible for controlling Aqua’s climate, and making it habitable. The reason that they are called salamanders is that Mars’ nature by default is to be very cold – therefore, the salamanders main job is to make sure that there is enough heat in the atmosphere to survive. That being said, there are still the four traditional seasons.

Analysis- Contrary to what you might think, its actually a good anime. When I first heard of it, I thought ‘this is going to be really stupid. It’s a show about gondolas for crying out loud.’ after being prodded by a friend, I decided to watch it.

Whats great about this anime is that, as I said before, it truly is a slice of life anime. Its very calming to watch this and become immersed in the characters lives. The characters are instantly lovable, and each have distinct personalities just like many people in the real world have, not just the cookie cutter personalities that you find in many anime and manga. These characters are all real people. I think that that is what make this anime so great.

My only downside to it is that it is slow paced. Because theres no plot from episode to episode, there isn’t a lot of suspense contained there. Sometimes it was a force of will to watch them when I was bored, when I could have gone for something with a little more action. This anime you probably should watch when you’re content with everything and you’re not just watching anime because you’re bored and have nothing else to do.

Characters:

Akari: She is a very loving girl, and also very innocent. She takes everything sentimentally, and feels obligated to help others at most chances. However, she is prone to panic if something starts to go wrong. She is a single for the Aria Company.

Trademark Phrase: Ehh??

Aika: Heir to Himeya she takes everything seriously. She isn't one for touchy-touchy feelings, but if theres someone that she really likes, then she becomes pseudo-obsessive. She treats everything as though it were a contest, and as such mimics her instructor, Akira. She has a crush on Alicia She is a single for Himeya.

Trademark Phrase: Hazukashi serufu kinshi! [Embarrassing remarks aren't allowed!]

Alice: A prodigy undine at Orange Planet, she is a naïve, closed off girl. She treats everything apathetically, and first time that we see her, she doesn't know how to smile. Because she is a prodigy, she was treated differently by the girls in her school class. She is the only pair of the group, yet she is as talented.

Trademark Phrase: adding Dekkai to everything [which means something along the lines of big, extreme, very]

Their mentors are the Three Water Fairies, or those who are said to be the greatest undines that are currently working.

Alicia: She is a very light natured girl, much like Akari. She loves people, and she never sees the bad side to anyone. She's best at her social skills, and as such is much wanted by the tourists. She is a prima for the Aria Company

Trademark Phrase: Ara Ara, *giggle [Ara means My, so she's saying My My]

Akari: Much like her apprentice, she deals with everything seriously. However, beneath it all, she's really nice – the rough exterior is her way of trying to properly train whoever is underneath her. However, even with that, she still has a mean streak, which is apparent whenever someone insults her, however jokingly she meant it. She's best at controlling the gondola out of anyone. She is a prima for Himeya.

Trademark Phrase: Unfortunately, I can't find one.

Athena: She is a big ditz head. She is clumsy, silent, and prone to making mistakes. However, she is remarkably perceptive, and helps usually from the shadows. She doesn't make much of an appearance, so I can't say much more. Her best skill is that of canzone, or singing [which, is quite frankly, quite amazing]

Trademark Phrase: Again, can't find one.

Other Characters

Ai: A little girl from Man-Home, she became friends with Aria in the first episode, after which they became pen pals. Every episode starts off with a conversation between the two, which foreshadows/concludes the episode in some way or another. In the two episodes that she appears in person, I really don't like her. I can't really explain why though.

Now, before you all yell at me for this next part, let me explain. On Aqua, blue eyed cats are considered to be lucky, for they embody the water goddess. Because of that, all gondola companies have a blue eyed cat as their president.

Aria: A big, fat, Martian cat, he is my favorite character. He can understand human speech, and loves having fun. He is curious, as all cats are, and he likes to help out other people.

Trademark Phrase: Pyun nyan nyan nya! [Ok, its basically the only thing he says. He's a cat. But i love his voice].

Hime: A Persian cat [I think], like her name suggests, she has a very regal manner to her [Hime means Princess in Japanese]. She is president of Himeya.

Maa: A ... weird ... cat ... who loves to bite Aria's stomach. He is president of Orange Company.

Music: The music in this anime is very calm, very relaxing. Something thats unique is that there is no opening sequence - rather, the song is played in the background while we watch the characters do stuff.

Akari, who is the Main Main Character of the show.

The three main characters from right to left - Aika, Akari, and Alice

Akari, Aika, and Alice, all with their 'reaction' face on, which they make whenever they're having a reaction to something or talking in a certain way. I rather like these faces.

Aika steering the Gondola, with Ai and Akari as the passengers.

Alicia, who is the water fairy that we see the most.

The three water fairies, from right to left - Athena, Akira, and Alicia

Aria, the martian cat and president of the Aria Company. He is rather intelligent for a cat. On his head, beneath his sailors hat is another cat, Pete, who only appears for one episode.

Aria attempting to help out with an injury that Alice inflicted on herself during the 'Left Hand Punishment' episode.

A landscape shot. There are a couple every episode, and they're all done really well. The three apprentices are all in the gondola, taking their practice together as they usually do.

Now, let me make note that this is the first of 3 series. The total episodes number of episodes is 52. Because they're all called different things, I decided to do each of them as I watch them.

Congradulations if you noticed something weird with the names. They all begin with A!! There are only four main characters in the series that don't: The mailman, who never gets a name; Woody, who is a sylph, and the two cats mentioned above.

There were a few characters I skipped over, like Woody, because even though I could tell you their personalities on the spot, they don't play a major role in the show. Their names are, so that you don't yell at me, Al, Akatsuki, Woody, the Mailman.

I just barely made it this week. I'm probably not going to be able to post next week, but when I next post its probably going to be a manga.

Cyaz
/Vavoysh

Double Arts

Double Arts
Mangaka: Naoshi Komi
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy
Length: 23 Chapters, due to Cancellation
Rating: 7/10 [Would be higher if it was longer ...]

Plot: The world has been plagued with a deadly sickness, Troi, for 700 years. The Sisters are the only ones who can treat it – women who have a high immunity for the sickness, they absorb some of the poison from the patient, prolonging their lives. However, in return, eventually they will succumb to it too.

This fate is happening to Elraine, who after treating a patient, starts having the seizures that are unique to the disease. She is saved by Kili, a young boy who was able to stop the seizures by grabbing her hand. While the Sisters all have high resistance to the disease, Kili is the one they've been searching for – the one person in the world who is fully immune to it.

After realizing this fact, Kili and Ellie go to travel to the Church's headquarters, so that Kili can be studied for a cure. However, the assassin's organization, Gazelle, is hot on their trail ...

Analysis: If you ask me, this is a totally awesome manga. Unfortunately, it was canceled after 12 chapters, which made me pissed when I found out. This manga probably would have been about 150+ chapters, with the way that it was developing [Yes, I'm so totally awesome I can predict the lengths of mangas]. Because of the short length, there are a lot of open threads left at the end of it, which is rather annoying.

The idea for this manga is interesting. I've never seen one like it. A sickness that infects everyone it touches, with a certain group of people that can heal it temporarily? It sounds really cool [not that I'd want to have it ... but you get what I mean]. Its one of the most original things I've heard [Well ... Read ... but you get my point].

The name Double Arts [which i feel is why the manga was canceled .. would you honestly read something called like that? I read it through my random search ...] comes around in one of the last chapters. Because Kili and Ellie have to constantly remain in contact with each other, they require a new way of fighting. Martial arts is the way of fighting for one person – Double arts, therefor would be for two.

This manga also has pieces of comedy built into it. How can you not, when two people have to remain in contact ... for every waking [and sleeping] moment of the day?

The fights are also well done, although not on the epic proportion. It has the ability to do that however, and it would have undoubtedly done so as the manga increased in length [like I said ... I can predict the lengths of manga. This is one of the ways to do so – if the fights in the beginning are short, and serve to show part of a character's skills, there will be without a doubt a point later in the series where the fights are much much longer and more exiting].

Character Summary:

Elrain Figarte: One of the most widely known sisters, she has cured many patients over her short lifetime, only to succumb to Troi at age 18 [or so]. After discovering Kili, she is forced to stay with him for practically forever. She is a very kind person, and her entire life is dedicated to helping others, even at the cost of her own life [in more ways than succumbing to Troi]. However, she is a very bright and happy girl, if a bit innocent.

Kili Luchile: He is a man of many talents, only one of which is complete immunality [I don't think thats a word] to Troi. His other ability is that of Flare, in which by joining hands with another person, they share strength – in other words, if five people were all touching, then each of them would have the strength of five people. He was taught how to fight by Sui, and is by nature a very artistic [if immature] person. He can carve anything extremely fast and to extraordinary detail. He has a very strong moral code, and hates other people getting hurt. He also has a sunny disposition towards life.

Sui: A pure blooded Nagin, a warrior race, she loves to fight. She would fight anyone to show that she's stronger, and she never loses. She is also a playgirl, and dates many men at once, constantly fooling with their emotions. She's even dated Kili thrice, dumping him each time [which is very funny to watch]. Her weapon is, surprisingly, a metal hula-hoop. However, even with her strength and her playgirl mentality, she is a very immature person, who loves taking risks just to see other people's reactions.

Fallan Denzel: A genius fighter, he is the one to teach Kili and Ellie how to fight. He knows all of the martial art styles in the world, even though he is a teenager [about 19 years old I think]. He has taught many an apprentice, each of them learning a different style. He is feared by many, and there are a great many rumors about his feats. However, he only fights for himself, never to protect others [which, quite frankly, is unique. I have never read another manga character who does so – most of the time, they fight to protect SOMEONE].

The rest of the characters, as important as they might become, I cannot tell you ... because its CANCELED!!! [And I'm still very sad about that ...]

Kili [on the right] and Ellie [on the left] being told by one of the heads of the Sisters that they will have to hold hands forever.

Fallan facing an opponent, who is only able to fight after being told that the opponent's main target is him, instead of the kids.

Sui riding her metal hula-hoop on the wall, using the speed to attack the opponent.

Anyways, this is an example of something that is really good, but canceled before its time [much like Firefly. Its also one of the reasons I was able to get this out so quickly - Because there's no ending to it, I didn't have to spend much time either reading it or trying to avoid spoilers.

I'm going to try and get it at a review a week, maybe 2 if I'm lucky. I can't guarantee anything though.

/Vavoysh

One Piece

One Piece

Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy

Mangaka: Eiichiro Oda

Length: 514 chapters, compiled in 51 volumes [So far. This manga has been going since 1997, and it shows no signs of stopping anytime soon.]

Rating: 9/10

Plot: It is the grand era of the pirates, brought upon when the great Gold D. Roger was executed 22 years ago. Pirates from all over search for his great treasure, the One Piece, hidden in the treacherous waters of the Grand Line.

Our adventure begins when an 8 year old boy, Monkey D. Luffy, eats the Gum Gum Fruit, one of the many Devil Fruits – a mystical fruit that will give you supernatural powers, while robbing you of your ability to swim. He gained the ability to stretch any part of his body, as he is now, quite literally, a rubber man. His dream is to become a pirate – and he does so, 10 years later. He travels the seas, picking up crew members, fighting against evil pirates and the Shichibukai, the pirate slaves of the government, and then facing the dangers of the Grand Line in order to capture One Piece and become the king of all pirates.

Analysis: It’s a fun manga to read. When it started, it was only supposed to go on for 5 years or so – you can tell this just from the way the plot works out in the beginning. It moves along a lot faster and the fight scenes aren’t as long as they get.

The characters are more loped on than anything – they aren’t given much of a background before joining, and there isn’t much reason for them to do so. However, later on, the manga gets very exiting. Characters are given a lot more depth before we even know that they’ll be joining the crew – sometimes we don’t even know if they’ll be joining at all.

That being said, the plot of the manga is very good. Because its such an open ended dream – become king of the pirates, get one piece – there are many things that can happen in between. This is furthered by the grand line by itself – its made of up many islands, each of which has their own magnetic pull – you need a special device, called a lock post to navigate through the islands. In order to get the lock post to lock, you have to stay on each island for a specific amount of time, which can vary. Its basically an excuse to have an adventure, and it works out really well.

As the manga goes on, the characters start to reveal themselves more fully. It’s the great part about having such a long manga, that you can develop the characters a lot. It also leaves room for very long fights, most of which are really well done. They’re fun to watch, and they’re filled with suspense. My only problem with them is this – the protagonist, Luffy, is extraordinarily strong, all due to his self training that was done during the 10 year time skip in the first chapter. We never actually see him training for anything. He gains one technique in one of the last arcs, and he made it up kinda spur of the moment. It just seems very unlikely that he can beat some of the strongest pirates in the world without training.

Finally, there is the matter of the grand line. Ignoring the sheer impossibility of the entire place, in the first part of the manga, the grand line is described as a place full of horror, fear, death, and destruction. Now, while the latter two might be true [there certainly are a lot of fights there], it doesn't seem like something very scary. The only real big deal are the pirates who you can circumvent [or fight – if you're too weak, then shame on you]. Everyone makes a big deal about how scary the grand line is, but i just don't see it. Now, it is dangerous mind you – the weather patterns make it almost impossible to navigate, which makes for very scary waters to travel through. But nothing as to the extent that you are made to believe.

Now, for fun, I thought that i would compare the pirates of one piece to the pirates of the real world [Yes, there is such a thing]

For the first part, the pirate ship does not work as it does in the manga. Its not a matter of who is the strongest in terms of fighting ability – rather, for the most part, it was done democratically, with the crew electing who the captain is. Their targets would not be a treasure, whether by following a map [of which the idea entirely came from Treasure Island], but any passing merchant ships. Most of the time, pirates would be working for a government – these were called privateers. It was often hard to tell the difference. Fights were not decided by who was the stronger fighter. They were usually decided by who caused the biggest amount of damage to the other ships. In most cases pirates would win without a fight, due to their fearsome reputation.

Next is the pirate flag. The jolly roger as we know it, and as every pirate crew has [although edited some per crew] in One Piece, wasn't prominent in a lot of ships. Often it would be a black flag for fight to the death, or red flag for fight with mercy. If it wasn't this, then it would be a national flag to try and lure prizes [ships] into a sense of false security.

Pirates were not respected by most people. They were seen as barbaric brutes who only were out for themselves. This is almost the exact opposite as the manga – pirates are often seen as a hope for people, while some people hate them.

The fact that there are women pirates in One Piece is astounding. Now, i don't have anything against women, but in history there have only been 5 reported cases. There might have been more, but either way it is a very rare occurrence. The women pirates in One Piece are often very important members of the crews, and in some cases lead them as the captain.

Finally, the last thing that I can remember is the noted lack of ships on the sea. Even before making it to the Grand Line, the only ships that you see are either pirate ships or marine ships. Its as though boats only exist for those two purposes.

Character Summary:

Please note that I'm only going to do the first 5 crew members, who are the ones that appear before the Grand Line. I'm doing this in order to avoid spoilers to the maximum, because generally a character joins at the end of an arc. I'm also not covering the villians, because they are usually arc specific. Secondary characters are not being covered as well because, even this far into the manga, we don't know alot about the important ones.

Strawhat Luffy, AKA Monkey D. Luffy: The hero of the story, he ate the Gomu Gomu Fruit [Gum Gum Fruit] when he was eight years old. Upon doing so, he gained the powers to stretch any part of his body to any length imaginable, however he gave up the ability to swim. He gained his nickname, Strawhat, from the straw hat that he always wears on his head. It was a gift from Red-Haired Shanks, a pirate whose crew used Luffy's town as base when he was young. It is his most treasured possession, and it becomes the symbol for his pirate crew.

Luffy is a very simple boy. He has a strong moral code, and he's not too smart. However, he is a very strong fighter. He has high agility and strength, which he calls out to its fullest when used in combination with his rubber-stretching powers, which usually consists of him flinging his arm back, then letting it snap forward to hit his opponent. Its more complicated than that, but its hard to describe in words. He LOVES meat - it is the only thing that can give him enough energy to do anything.

Roronoa Zoro: The second person to join Luffy's crew, and its 1^st mate, he is a master swordsman. There is one difference between him and normal swordsmen however – he uses three swords [He places the third in his mouth]. He made a promise to a childhood friend/rival to become the greatest swordsman in the world, and as such whenever facing a swordsman he tries his hardest never to lose, even if losing would mean walking away alive. His strength is amazing [and his teeth are most likely made out of diamonds, as well as having a mouth as dry as the desert], and before joining the crew, was feared as one of the best pirate hunters. He has a fierce rivalry with Sanji [Look Below]

Zoro is a fun guy. Like Luffy, he isn't too smart, but he is very loyal. He has a terrible sense of direction, and as such usually gets lost. His skills, as mentioned, are very good. While he has not eaten any Devil Fruits, he can beat most of them. Fun fact about his attacks – most of them are named after food, and are puns. For example, one of the first 'special' attacks that he uses is Oni Giri. Oni means demon, and Giri means slash, so therefor it would mean Demon Slash. However, an Onigiri is a rice ball thats often eaten as a snack. The same is true for his swords – the kanji for them can be read multiple ways, mimicking food or something deadly.

Nami: The third to join the crew, she serves as the ship's navigator. Before joining them, she introduced herself as the pirate thief, stealing treasure only from other pirates. She is really one of the only ones with any brains in her head. She acts as the ship's conscience for a good part of the series, and while to start off she didn't have any fighting skills, they grew later on as a result of her feeling weak and helpless.

When Nami first shows up, you don't know whether or not she is going to join – she disappears for a while, then shows back up. She is the first one to have a real strong plot and back story appear, and as such is very memorable.

Usopp: The fourth to join the crew [Gee, I wonder if I'm going in some sort of order here ...], he is the ship's sniper. He has a very big head and is full of himself, often calling himself the captain before being shot down [Get it? He's the sniper and he's being shot down ... Ha ha ha ... Punny ... :(]. His father is a part of Shank's crew, and its partly for this reason that Luffy takes a liking to him. He's also a very big liar, and he loves making up stories to impress other people with his amazing, but very fake, deeds. For a lot of the series, he is a gag character, but he gains a lot of strength later on.

Usopp is mostly used as comic relief. Until one of the arcs, he is not too strong, but his attacks are always fun to watch. He uses a slingshot to do his sniping with, and he has an assortment of bullets, ranging from explosions to hot pepper. Contrary to what it appears, he can analyze situations very easily. His most defining feature is his nose ... which sticks out a foot in front of his face. He is also a big coward.

“Black Legged” Sanji: The fifth to join the crew, and the last to do so before the Grand Line, he is the chef of the ship. He was taught how to cook and fight by Red-Legged Sef, and as the name suggests, only fights with his legs. His dream is to find Deep Blue, a place where all of the oceans in the world intersect, that contains every species of fish imaginable. He loves women of all sort – except if they're ugly. But, even if they are, he will never hit a woman. The only times that he gets angry is when food/cooking is insulted, or if a woman is harmed. That, or any time that he is in the same room with Zoro, who as mentioned before, has a rivalry with.

Sanji is a good character. After Nami, he is the most level-headed of the crew, but he can still be an idiot sometimes. He is the third strongest in the crew, and like the first two, he has a strong code of honor. He constantly smokes a cigarette, which was changed to a lollipop in American versions of the manga/anime.

Overall, I really liked this series. Its quite addicting, even though it is rather long. I read it in a week, which was only possible because I was under a bet and I kinda forgot about doing everything else during that time. I highly recommend reading this [But definitely at a slower pace than what I did. Maybe do like 2 volumes a night]. I wish that i could have written a better summary, but its hard to do so with this manga without giving anything away. Maybe in a bit I'll go back, look it over, and rewrite it. Here are some pictures depicting some of the fights – these aren't the best in the series, nor are these comedy shots. Like I said earlier, the manga gets a lot better as it gets on, in terms of fights and comedy. I tried to not go too far into the manga so as not to ruin anything, but these pictures don't fully represent how good this manga is. Not only that, but the quality of the manga increases - another good part about it being so long is that you can see the artwork change over time.

Luffy fireing off a Gomu Gomu Pistol [Gum Gum Pistol - you'll see it alternate in the different scanlations]attack at a sea king, a monster that inhabits alot of the oceans. This is only one of his many attacks.

Zoro with his three swords [His fights are some of the best in the series, they're really cool].

Sanji kicking around some opponents after they insulted chefs, cooking, and food in general.

Usopp using a fire shot fired from his slingshot on a merman.

A picture of their Pirate Flag on the Going Merry, the ship that they aquired. Its mostly for this that the crew was called the Strawhat crew. [I know that it says Rufi in it, but that is because in japanese, R and L sound the same, so some people translated it as Rufi. However, the majority of the scans are done Luffy, and that is how it was translated into english.]

Again, sorry that it took so long. My Internet has been out of wack lately, so it was hard to keep working on this. I just read another series so I'll have that review up within the next few days.

/Vavoysh